


The Words On Our Skins

by RebeccaAnabelBurrows



Series: A Study in Soulbonds (Unrelated Works) [2]
Category: DCU, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, M/M, The words on your skin are those said to you by your soulmate after they've fallen in love with you, Well not much angst, Words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:33:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24405853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebeccaAnabelBurrows/pseuds/RebeccaAnabelBurrows
Summary: "They are the words that your soulmate will say once they will have fallen in love with you" his mother had told him, long ago.
Relationships: Hal Jordan/Bruce Wayne, Past Relationships - Relationship
Series: A Study in Soulbonds (Unrelated Works) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687879
Comments: 14
Kudos: 248





	The Words On Our Skins

"They are the words that your soulmate will say once they will have fallen in love with you" his mother had told him, long ago. 

Bruce had often taken comfort in the words on his right arm as a vigilante-in-the-making. Before his parents’ murder, they had just been words. Nice ones, that he traced over with his fingertips sometimes, but that was all. After, it was something to cling to. 

His soulmate believed in him. For a long time, Bruce had whispered the words before going to sleep. It was a nice change from the darkness his dreams promised him, the one he felt like he was living in. 

But Bruce had grown up. He had done things he wasn’t proud of, things that could make the words on his arm difficult to justify.

He had thought for a long time that the words were significant, that they confirmed his integrity. For all he knew, it could mean he was just a good liar. That his soulmate was just incredibly naive. 

Maybe they would not be aware of his “night activities” when they would speak the words to him. Thinking otherwise was idiotic and would only lead to heartbreak. 

Some people in the League had met their soulmates and fallen in love with them. Oliver and Dinah made it work, somehow. The words running down Oliver’s ribs and around Dinah’s ankle had been engraved on their wedding bands. 

Their happiness was often envied, but their words not so much. Nobody wanted “You’re a real jerk.” or “Do you like this ?” written on their bodies even if Dinah swore hers was about cookie dough, even if she offered her husband a secretive half-smile and a playful wink every time someone mentioned it. 

Bruce knew about the sobering “We should stop this.” on Diana’s back - a long story that could be resumed as a comforting one-night-stand after a bloody night - and it wasn’t even the most heartbreaking thing he had read on one or another of his multiple lovers through the years. 

He also knew about the oh-so-reassuring “Don’t you dare die on me.” written in Themysciran on Clark’s shoulder - thankfully here, a short story that couldn’t be resumed as a one-night-stand. 

Clark was just far too trusting with his friends, and having unintentionally seen Bruce’s words, had decided to share his. It was long after Bruce had found out about Diana’s words, but he hadn’t been too surprised that it was her words on Superman. 

That Diana would one day be so worried she would use her native language while dealing with an injured Clark was a terrifying thought. 

People weren’t always shy with their words, but some believed it was bad luck to see the words you would say to your soulmate some day before you had said them, and kept them from their own soulmates. 

Bruce didn’t even know if he had already said the words. Well, the words on his soulmate’s skin would be the ones he would say to them after falling in love with them, as was usual, so he was pretty sure he hadn’t said them. 

Selina had been the only person he had ever fallen in love with, and she wouldn’t have resisted telling him if he had been her soulmate. 

And if she had said the words on his skin, she would have said them with contempt. Another reason Bruce was glad it wasn’t her. 

People didn’t just forget about their words - especially if they were right there on your dominant arm - but after some time, Bruce had stopped thinking about it.

Why would they even matter, right ? 

And then he started having kids.

As Dick got older, he started asking questions about his words, and so did the other kids Bruce took under his wing after him. 

It had been easier to deal with Jason’s “Stop running from me” and Damian’s casual “Do you want a sandwich ?” than to comfort Dick over the “I am too broken for this” on the side of his left foot. It was lucky that Tim’s “Are you on patrol tonight ?” was located on his torso and not his face or a more visible part of him but it wasn’t going to make his life easy either. 

Cass had never mentioned anything about her words so Bruce hadn’t either. He suspected they were on her right knee because she kept touching the place occasionally but it was her only tell. 

He could tell however than most of the kids had envied his own words at some point.

Jason had not wanted a soulmate that he would feel like running from (“What if it means I don’t like them ?”)

After he had turned fifteen, he had always complained about it. And then he had died, and it hadn’t mattered anymore. Nothing had, for some time. 

Now… Well, now, Jason was angry at Bruce and had turned into a ruthless murderer and drug lord, but he was alive, his heart was beating and that was the most important. The rest would just take time. At least that was Bruce’s hope. 

Red Hood probably didn’t care about his words anymore, even if they made more sense, now. 

Dick had not mentioned his own words in a while, and Bruce wondered if it was because they had been said to him. He seemed fidgety each time soulmates were talked about. 

Tim did care about his own words. He had gotten older and must have been trying to figure out how to make physical intimacy work without revealing his family’s secrets. Even by the swimming pool at the manor, when only family was here, he would keep his shirt on. 

And Bruce was quite sure Damian wouldn’t have minded something a bit more impressive. Honestly, he was relieved by Damian’s words. A food offering was as normal as soulwords could get and it was a good thing. Normal for once couldn’t hurt. 

Dick’s words weren’t ordinary and as a kid he would have jumped at the chance to exchange his words with anyone and had kept them hidden from everyone that wasn’t Bruce or Alfred. Bruce wasn’t even sure Alfred had words, he had never told him. 

Well, he hoped Cassandra’s words were to her convenance at least. 

Thinking of his kids, of his two eldest sons in particular, Bruce had realized he was quite lucky with his words. Maybe his soulmate was an oblivious idiot, but he hadn’t been doomed to wear the burden of their words. The words on his own skin were easy to live with. 

Bruce wouldn’t exactly know how he had fallen into bed with Hal Jordan. It had been after a mission, the adrenaline had run high and - it had been quite a blur afterwards. Bruce remembered hands and mouths touching, caressing, gentle but with a certain firmness to it - neither him or Hal were new at this game.

It hadn’t been much of a surprise - Hal and him had been getting along better and the arguing had started evolving into flirting when it was only the two of them.

It could have been just a one time thing but they had kept seeing each other. Bruce hid his words and so did Hal - people did it sometimes, usually because their words were quite compromising. 

“My sister-in-law is allergic to vanilla. My brother took her to an ice-cream truck when they started dating. You can’t imagine how funny it is to have a brother with ‘I am not much into vanilla’ written around his knee. I’ve rarely seen him in shorts, truth be told.” Hal had told him one morning in his flat, eyeing the bandage on his arm. “Is it that bad ?”

Bruce had considered it, rubbing his hand against the covered skin, feeling protective of the words there, which was totally irrational. They were just words, and Hal didn’t have x-ray vision anyway. 

“No. But my soulmate is probably an idiot.”

Hal had laughed as Bruce glared at his arm intensely, probably hoping the words would magically disappear. 

“You can deduce that from one sentence ? My, your detective skills are really something.” Hal had said, stroking his teammate’s hair.

Bruce had shifted and crossed his arms on his chest. 

“They’re nice. The words. They’re about me and they’re nice.”

Hal had sat up and cupped Bruce’s face with his hands. 

“Bruce. Listen to me, for once. You deserve to have a soulmate that tells you nice things, someone that cares about you.”

Hal had kissed Bruce’s forehead gently. And then his nose and his lips. 

“You’re a good person, you know ?”

Bruce had stilled. Hal had taken it as a sign of unease at being complimented and chose to fight this battle another day.

“So, as someone you also like calling an idiot every once in a while, I feel close to this unfortunate person who has you as a soulmate. Can I know your words ?”

Bruce just glared at him, as Hal had intended. It wasn’t so bad if he could still get a reaction from him. 

You just don’t like sharing ? Why am I surprised ?” Hal smiled against his shoulder.

“Said the guy with the small of his back covered.” Bruce muttered, letting his hands roam over the skin just above Hal’s own bandage.

It was Hal’s turn to feel uncomfortable. He covered Bruce’s hands with his.

“It’s a pretty generic sentence. I don’t want people to freak out when they say it.” he said defensively. 

He was rather tense. Bruce brought him closer to him and kissed him again. Hal let himself melt into the kiss, yielding more control to his partner. 

“I don’t mind.” Bruce said softly. “You’re leaving soon, can we just enjoy this morning like normal people ? I promise we can argue as much as you want when you come back.” 

A few hours later, Hal had left for Oa. When he came back on Earth, two months later, he went straight to the Bat cave. 

While he was away, Bruce had noticed some change in his feelings. Nothing major, but it was different enough for him to notice. He was already aware that Hal was his soulmate and in love with him, that the Lantern had said the words on his skin. It didn’t take him long to realize he was falling in love with Hal too.

So when the cave detected a Lantern’s presence, he was ready for the conversation they were about to have. Ready to say the words that were certainly written on Hal’s back. 

When Hal had wrapped his arms around him, Bruce had known which words he wanted to say. 

“It’s nice to have you back.” he had said carefully, looking for Hal’s reaction.

It took Hal some time to register what his lover had said, which wasn't unusual when he had just been back, the travelling back part often following a taxing mission taking quite its toll on Hal everytime. Not having heard English for some time didn't help either. 

When he realized why what Bruce was saying was familiar, Hal’s eyes popped in surprise before narrowing under Bruce’s scrutiny. He could tell that Bruce was analyzing his every movement, and that he had planned this. 

“I’ve already said them, right ? Your words ?” he inquired.

Bruce nodded, his soulmate wasn't, in fact, an idiot. He bared his arm to Hal. No bandage here, just Hal’s words. Hal didn't even pretend he didn't ache to touch them and Bruce had to repress a shudder at his touch. Nobody had ever touched him there and, surprise surprise - not really, Bruce had read about soulmates - , soulwords made a zone erogenous. 

“Yes.” he said, his voice a bit rapsy, and Hal probably remembered that part about soulwords too because he stopped stroking Bruce's arm in fascination so they could keep talking. 

Bruce refrained to growl and put Hal's hand back on his arm. They needed to talk about this and even if they could multitask well, he'd rather do it with a clear mind, which meant them both having their clothes on. 

“Great. You can’t know how many times I have heard variants of my words. I am a goddamn pilot and I spend half of my life in space, how often do you think I hear that from co-workers, League members and friends ? Couldn’t you think of anything less common ?” Hal sighed.

Carol had almost said his words once, and Barry and Oliver too. Hal was quite certain his colleague James had said them, but the guy had already met his soulmate. The thing was, it wasn’t the same at all hearing this from Bruce than just knowing he had been missed. 

Bruce shrugged. He had picked nice words, nothing freaky or inappropriate. Maybe not as nice as Hal’s had been, but he wasn’t very good at sincere compliments and feared insulting Hal unknowingly. 

“You didn’t even realize when you said mine. You said them just before asking me to show them to you.”

“Ah, yes. I must admit it might have been a mild case of jealousy.”

They laughed, Bruce tracing Hal’s face with his fingers. Maybe they should stop talking. It was good, having Hal leaning into him. 

“Show me your words. Please.” 

Hal nodded. He had seen Bruce’s, it was only fair to reveal his to his partner. His soulmate. 

“Somewhere where you don’t keep the temperature that low. Are you keeping corpses here ?” 

Bruce rolled his eyes at him before taking his hand. Hal let him, yawning. He needed some rest and wouldn't get it if they kept talking. 

“Not yet but you never know. Let’s go upstairs, I can't let my soulmate freeze to death in good conscience.”

“I am sure you have ideas to keep me warm. I’ve heard that skin-to-skin contact is recommended in those situations.” Hal whispered into his ear before yawning. 

Bruce put his hand on his lower back and guided him to the bedrrom. 

“You're exhausted. Have a nap first and I'll see what I can do for you." he said softly as Hal undressed. "You'll show me your words then."

Hal was too tired to protest and went to bed without saying much more.

"Stay ?" he kind of asked, his eyelids closed. 

Bruce brushed the hair out of his handsome face.

"Of course." he said, and Hal fell asleep with a happy smile on his face.


End file.
